Valley Avenue
Valley Avenue is an approximately 2¼ mile east-west street running along the southern slope of Red Mountain from Green Springs Highway in the west to Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South (18th Street South) in the east. The road continues to the west as West Valley Avenue and to the east as 21st Avenue South. Except for the approximate half mile strip of commercial lots east of Green Springs, most of Valley Avenue is lined with apartment complexes.
The original portion of Valley Avenue was built for Valley View Apartments in 1948 and extended only about eight-tenths of a mile from 18th Street to Valley View Drive. In the 1960s, the road was extended to connect 18th Street, which was still U.S. Highway 31 at the time, to Green Springs Highway.
From Nob Hill Drive to 18th Street, Valley Avenue runs along the Birmingham and Homewood city borders. Valley Avenue is not, however, the official border and approximately 1.7 miles of the road are within Homewood. The irregular border has given rise to situations where children in the same apartment complex, and even the same building, might attend different city schools. The deciding factor in some cases is which city the apartment's main bedroom is in.
In 2014, Homewood commissioned a study by Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood, which was performed by Skipper Consulting, which found that 16,600 cars travel between Mecca Avenue and the Palisades Boulevard/Beacon Parkway East intersection on a daily basis. The study was done in advance of a repaving project funded through an ATRIP Grant expected to be completed in mid- to late-2015. Homewood officials were unable to find any records of Valley Avenue being repaved for over 20 years before that. The project would convert the road from Mecca to Moretti Circle from an undivided, 4-lane road to 3-lane road including a central two-way turn lane.
Notable locations
Birmingham (Glen Iris neighborhood)
- Green Springs Highway intersection (continues west as West Valley Avenue)
- north side:
- 2651 Green Springs Highway: Green Springs Chevron
- 312: Precision Tune Auto Care
- 316: Waffle House, former location of Johnny Ray's, Baby Ray's
- 328: El Sol Cantina & Taqueria / U-Haul
- 342: Sammy's Gentleman's Club, former location of Cork 'N Cleaver (1978–1980), Hello Hello Club, Pacific Islander (Herbert Hsu 1989)
- 350: Arby's
- south side:
- 101 Green Springs Highway: Walgreen's drug store
- 313: Sonic Drive-In
- 321: former location of Valley Skate Center, Holiday Skate Center (1982)
- Suite A: NAPA Auto Parts
- Suite B: DeWalt Service Center
- Suite C: Red Mountain Climatic Storage (formerly Budget Movers & Mini Storage)
- 328: former location of Corey's sports bar
- 337: Full Moon Bar-B-Que, former location of D'Lites of America
- 345: Wendy's restaurant (1978–)
- 367: LR Auto Sales (2018–), former location of Ham Bones (1982), Butters restaurant (1982-1985), Longneck's & Steaks (May-December 1985), Coffee on Valley / Freedom Court Reporting (2011), Jolly Rogers Tavern (July–October 2012), Farmhouse Restaurant, Rafiki's Grill (2014–June 2017)
- north side:
- Beacon Parkway West (north) / Palisades Drive (south) intersect
- north side:
- 400: El Mega Sol nightclub (2012–), former location of Birmingham Scottish Rite Temple
- 450: Alabama Power Co. Green Springs Substation
- 500: El Sol nightclub (1995–)
- 540: U-Haul Moving & Storage
- south side:
- 401–449: Valley Avenue Plaza
- 513: Fox Valley Apartments
- north side:
- Temple Drive intersects (south only)
- Beacon Parkway East (north) / Palisades Boulevard (south) intersect
- north side:
- 700–730:
- 700: Shell gas station
- 700: Roman Bar & Grill
- 706: Great Wall Chinese Restaurant, former location of Shakey's Pizza (1979)
- 730: Starz Karaoke Lounge
- 800: Vida on Valley apartments, formerly Nob Hill Apartments (built 1972)
- 700–730:
- south side:
- north side:
Homewood
- Mecca Avenue intersects (south only, access to Homewood Middle School)
- Valley Ridge Drive intersects (north only, access to Valora at Homewood apartments
- Honey Locust Lane formerly intersected (south only, access to former location of Magnolia Park Apartments
- Red Mountain Drive intersects (north only, access to Valora at Homewood apartments
- Elder Oaks Way formerly intersected (south only, access to former location of Magnolia Park Apartments
- Valley Ridge Drive intersects (north only, access to Valora at Homewood apartments
- Golden Crest Drive (north) intersects (north only, access to Valora at Homewood apartments) / Cedar Path Drive formerly intersected (south only, access to former location of Magnolia Park Apartments
- north side:
- 1500–1536: residences
- south side:
- 1501–1525: residences
- north side:
- Valley View Drive intersects
- Vulcan Park Condominiums (built 1940s as Valley View Apartments)
- Clermont Drive intersects
- Vulcan Park Condominiums (built 1940s as Valley View Apartments)
- Ashwood Lane (north) / Beckham Drive (south) intersect
- Vulcan Park Condominiums (built 1940s as Valley View Apartments)
- Moretti Circle (previously Hillside Circle) intersects (south only)
- north side:
- Vulcan Park Condominiums (built 1940s as Valley View Apartments)
- south side:
- 1779: Vulcan Park Animal Care
- north side:
- Valley View Drive intersects (north only, access to Vulcan Park in Birmingham's Five Points South neighborhood)
- south side:
- 2100 18th Street South: State Farm Mutual building (built 1954), Jefferson County Board of Education, former location of State Farm Insurance Companies southern regional office
- south side:
- Richard Arrington Jr Boulevard South (formerly 18th Street South) intersects
- Avenue continues east as 21st Avenue South into "Diaper Row" in Birmingham's Redmont Park neighborhood)
References
- Bryan, Kim (November 10, 2007) "Homewood boundaries have some limitations." The Birmingham News.
- Rodriguez, Ana (October 3, 2014) "For Valley Avenue drivers, where potholes are 'monsters' and traffic heavy, relief might come soon" The Birmingham News.